Sunday, February 18, 2018

Grandpa Richards' Viewing

This may be abundantly obvious to our family's followers, but our kids LOVE traveling. When we left on February 7 for Utah, the kids were enthusiastic. Road trips are hardest on the smallest kids, but even Sammy held up very well for the 13 hours of travel.

There was much disappointment at the devastating lack of snow anywhere along our drive. We drove through one snowy bit at Snoqualmie pass in the first three hours of driving, and then it was blue skies and no coats needed for the rest of the drive.

We were happy to get out of the car and into our very comfortable AirBnB in Layton. This is where B slept (not). We actually used this coffee table/bench to store some of the dozen extra pillows so that I wouldn't have to constantly keep the boys from whacking each other with them unexpectedly.

The neighborhood was great. Thursday morning everyone was working, so I took the kids exploring a trail we found behind the back yard, and we discovered sticks galore, Sammy adopted half a dozen new pet rocks, and there were horses behind a fence.

If you zoom in on this picture you will see a herd of deer on the bank behind the kids.

It was so warm! As you can see, I have a collection of gloves and beanies the kids shed as the temperature soared over 50 degrees.

Jared took a few nature pictures. This tree was at the top of a steep bank that Sammy tried to climb the first time with his hands full of rocks. He slipped and fell on his face, but he didn't drop his rocks. I helped him put them in his pockets. On a later walk, Jared climbed up this bank and declared himself king of the hill, and Eloise was the queen. B came up behind him and said, "I'm the prince! Sammy, do you want to be the princess?"
Sammy answered, "Yes! I am the princess! And-" tapping his knees- "This is my dress!" It was hilarious.

The funeral was going to be held on Saturday. The main reason we came out two days early was so that we could help Anni and Ryan move. They closed on a new house on Tuesday, got to take possession of it on Thursday, and had to be out of their apartment by the following Tuesday. They had planned to move on Saturday, but the funeral thwarted that plan. Anni and Ryan both work full time, and Anni is pregnant and unable to lift boxes, so they didn't have a lot of time to pack and move, so we came to help. On Thursday afternoon we helped with packing and the kids played with their cousins. This is really shocking, but I got not one single picture of the kids playing with their cousins on this entire trip.

Cheyenne wasn't able to make it, but it turned out to be just as well that she stayed home, since the flu hit her family hard this week.

We spent Friday moving in earnest. A bunch of missionaries and a couple of friends showed up to help, and we packed and moved almost everything from the apartment to the new house, then we unloaded the truck. I confused a bunch of Anni's neighbors when she left to pick up her kids from school, and I was directing the moving of furniture into the house. They came over to welcome me to the neighborhood, only to be very confused about why I appeared to be in charge when I said I didn't live there.
In the evening, our AirBnB host opened up the rec room of their enormous house and Todd, Ryan, and the kids ate sandwiches and watched a movie together while Anni and I went to the viewing.
The first thing that greeted us at the funeral home was this hilarious sign. I know what you're thinking, but no, it was not pointing the way to the bathroom. My grandpa's name was John Richards, but he went by Jack. Maybe it was the tension of being in a funeral home, or exhaustion from working all day, but I could not stop giggling about this sign. Uncle Glen, who finds open caskets unbearably creepy, was laughing right along with me.

Faith had arrived the night before. I'm glad she was there to be with Mom while Anni and I were busy moving. We got some pictures with Grandma. She didn't really want to be there either.

Uncle Evan, Uncle Glen, Mom, Grandma, and Uncle Paul, who had to come back from Thailand to be there for the funeral.

Uncle Glen had made a nice video showcasing Grandpa's life. A few relatives and neighbors drifted through, and we took turns, along with Joy, Paul's wife, sitting on the couch with Grandma and telling her stories to keep her occupied, since every five minutes she asked if she could go home yet. Overall, this was a peaceful and happy time, as much as it could be.